by Kirk, A
Rose wore a smug expression. “Bravo, young Logan. Perhaps you could enlighten your fellow hunters.”
Logan shook his head. “No. You tell us your version first. I’ll see how truthful it is.”
“As you wish,” Rose agreed. “The Mandatum didn’t willingly let people leave the society. To get out, you had to flee, and if you were found, well, let us say, you were better off dead.”
“It’s not like that now,” Ayden said.
“Really?” Rose raised a brow. “Would they let you just walk away? And if it’s so different now, why do you hide the extent of your powers to avoid being forced into the Sicarius?”
Or in my case, into service as the Divinicus. I didn’t rebut his claims. And neither did the Hex Boys.
Rose stifled a smirk and continued. “Believe what you will about today, but in the late nineteenth century Flint hid people until it was safe to go out into the world. He provided false documents with which to start new lives. He never stole artifacts. Hunters happily paid Flint for their freedom from an oppressive tyrant. That’s how he acquired his treasure.”
The Hex Boys turned to Logan who nodded, looking grim.
Rose shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t care about any of that. I’m just pointing out that your society isn’t as benevolent as you would like to believe. When they found out what he was doing, they tortured Flint for information and the whereabouts of those he had helped, the treasure, and especially the stone, but rather than give anything up, he took the punishment and went insane for his troubles.”
I looked at the boys. “Does the Mandatum still do that?”
“Of course not,” Tristan said sharply.
“At least not that we know of,” Logan muttered.
That was reassuring.
“Find the treasure,” Rose said. “Use the stone to set my sister free. Then use it all as leverage to set yourselves free. But do it with haste because while I’ve grown rather fond of Aurora, and although it would be bittersweet, I will kill her to save my family.”
“You’re hardly in a position to make threats,” Matthias said.
“You still don’t understand the game we are playing.” Rose looked disheartened. “Perhaps some…incentive would best spur you on with more enthusiasm of purpose.”
Didn’t like the sound of that. Or the cold glint in his eyes.
“Hmmm.” Rose laid a slender finger along his jaw as if deep in thought, then he turned to me. “I believe the loss of a beloved brother should hone my point.”
Fear sliced razors across my gut. Then my eyes settled on the handcuffs. “Threaten all you want. You’re not getting anywhere near my family.”
“Thank you.” Rose’s smile took a malicious curve. “These will come in handy.”
As he raised his arms, his skin shimmered translucent, and the super high-tech shackles dropped through the air. Rose caught them before they hit the ground, then he dissipated in a swirl of pale pink smoke.
Wow. Impressive. We just lost my supernatural assassin. And let him loose on a new target.
Matthias turned paler than the moon. “Aurora, where are your brothers?”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
I slipped around a corner, cursing whoever polished the hospital floors to such a slick shine.
“Aurora, wait!”
I couldn’t see Ayden. I’d left him in the dust when I’d jumped out of his car before he’d had a chance to park.
Back in the yard outside the Ishida home, Logan had launched into the air like he’d been shot from a cannon and flew across the sky to check on Lucian at my house. Jayden had Supermanned into the air too, heading for the hospital daycare where Dad was working late.
And, no, I didn’t know they could fly like that. Logan made sense, kind of, using air and all, but Jayden’s had something to with manipulating molecules. I didn’t understand, nor did I care. I was just happy for the speed.
In cars and providing backup, Matthias and Blake had followed Logan while Tristan and I had dived into Ayden’s car where I’d never been so thankful for his death-defying driving skills.
But deep down I knew it didn’t matter how fast we all were. Nothing beat teleporting. My worst nightmare — my family taken because of me — could already be a reality.
I banged open the hospital daycare door to a dizzying mash of bright colors, tiny furniture, sprawled toys, and cartoon animals spattered across the walls. Not a single child in sight.
A kindly grandma type greeted me. “Miss Lahey?”
“Oron,” I said between ragged panting. “I’m here for my brother.”
“You just missed him.”
“No.” My stomach dropped into freefall, ready to take my knees out on the way.
“The nurse just took him to your dad.” She smiled. “They’re going home shortly.”
“Nurse?” I said.
“Quite the attractive blonde,” she chuckled. “And so charming.”
And dangerous. Stupid, psychotic Rose.
I tore out of the room and collided with Ayden.
He spoke quickly. “Lucian’s safe. The guys have your house secure.”
My emotions twisted into a gut-wrenching mess of happy, relieved, and terrified.
“Rose has Oron,” I choked out then pushed off him and raced through the halls, tears streaming, searching for my dad because maybe, just maybe I was wrong.
But Dad’s office was empty. Just a desk with patient files and pictures of a happy Lahey family which I’d officially ruined. I sagged against the door frame, tired, scared, angry, not sure what else, but none of it good.
Ayden grabbed my shoulders. “I’m sure Oron’s fine. Jayden would never let anything happen to him.”
“Where is Jayden? He should have beaten us here.”
“There’s my elusive daughter!” Dad waved from a nurse’s station up ahead. “Haven’t seen you enough lately.”
I raced forward. “Do you have Oron?”
“Thank you,” Dad said to a woman behind the desk as he passed her several folders. He turned to me and frowned. “Nurse is bringing him now. What’s wrong? Have you been crying? Again?” He shot an openly hostile look at Ayden, who, under the glare, visibly flinched.
“No, Dad, it’s…I’ve, ah, got to tell you—” I choked on a way to explain that his son was kidnapped, lost in the clutches of an assassin because I was some supernatural freak and a selfish coward, unwilling to give myself up long ago to save my family.
“You look a little too rosy.” Dad put a hand to my forehead. “Any dizziness? Let me check your shoulder. Could be infected.”
“Dr. Lahey, there you are,” said a woman behind me. “I’ve got a precious delivery for you.”
I knew that voice. I turned slowly, jaw dropping.
The woman was average height, thirties, pretty, but made more memorable by her ever changing costumes. Instead of typical nurse’s scrubs, her blue uniform was dotted with floating white feathers and fitted to her lovely figure. Her hair swept down in a braid, simple but for how her blonde locks changed color and bled into teal at the ends, matching the uniform and the identical shade of her eyes.
“Gloria?” I gasped.
Sure she was missing the wings, but it was definitely my guardian angel. She had a sleeping baby with a mess of red curls in her arms. Oron. I nearly collapsed in relief.
“Aurora,” Gloria nodded at me.
“You two know each other?” Dad said.
Gloria smiled. “I was here when she was in the hospital during her coma. Are you ready to take Oron home, Dr. Lahey? Or should I return him to—”
“Home!” I took my baby brother from Gloria, holding him to my chest like he was sack of diamonds and everyone else was part of a heist. “We’re going home. Right, Dad? I’m fine. Just a little tired. Let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dad laughed and gave me a salute. “I can examine you there. Let me collect my things from the office.”
“Take Ayden and show him tho
se tumor photos. I’ll wait for you at the nurse’s station. Gloria and I need to catch up.” I grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hall out of earshot, then hissed, “Where have you been? I’ve got an assassin threatening me, my family. Name’s Rose.”
Gloria shrugged. “Not ringing any bells.”
I huffed. “You’d think the Divinicus Nex would get a better guardian angel than this.”
Gloria narrowed a disapproving look. “No one can get to your family on my watch.”
“He threatened to take one of my brothers.”
“Impossible,” she said firmly. A moment later her mouth twisted sideways, and she tilted her head. “Unless…”
I clutched Oron closer. “Unless what?”
“Are you sure he threatened to take your brother?”
My stomach was back in freefall. “Where’s Jayden?”
Gloria offered a sad smile. “Not my job.” Then she ducked around a corner.
I heard a rush of feathers like a thousand doves fluttering down the halls. When I caught up, Gloria was gone. I would have screamed in frustration, but Oron was sleeping on my chest in utter peace.
Tristan raced up holding a computer pad and looking grim. “Where’s Ayden?! Jayden never got in here. Look at the security feed.”
I watched a grainy video of Jayden walking toward the Emergency Room entrance. As he passed a parked ambulance, the back doors opened, and an EMT wearing a ball cap hopped out. He bumped Jayden off balance, then slapped Tristan’s futuristic, power-stopping handcuffs on Jayden’s wrists.
Jayden threw a punch and a kick, but Rose sidestepped, caught Jayden’s fist with his own, looked directly at the camera, and even had time to wink and tip his ball cap before they both disappeared in a swirl of pink smoke.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Clouds smothered the moon, and in the dark outside my backyard gate, I glanced expectantly toward the forest. Nothing yet. I still wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but it was all I had.
The boys were out trying to hunt down Jayden, which is what I should’ve be doing, but Dad wouldn’t leave the hospital without me, so I was home.
Going crazy.
After dinner I’d tried phoning for some progress, some way I could help, but I’d only reached Matthias.
“Stay home and out of the bloody way,” he’d snapped and hung up.
Stupid, son of a jackal.
With a plan born of desperation and guilt, I’d snuck into Tristan’s room, still cluttered from the guys’ stuff when they’d slept over to watch out for Rose. It was easy to find something of Jayden’s. His orca-covered surfer shorts had lots of bright colors. Then I’d gone outside to the edge of the woods behind our house and started calling for Fido.
Hey, I had a supernatural protection detail with a nose the size of a space shuttle at my beck and call, so why not use her?
I puckered my lips and whistled. Okay, tried to whistle, but could only crank a few decibels. I tried Ayden’s snazzy technique using two fingers in my mouth with even less success. So it was back to whispering as loud as I could. So slick. And when that didn’t work, I was about to stab my palm to get some blood when it occurred to me that I already had plenty of other wounds. So, fighting whimpers, I jabbed at the stitches on my shoulder until blood oozed.
Shortly after, I heard the cracking and smushing of foliage. Something big was on its way.
I smelled fresh, upturned earth and was poised on alert, ready to run back into the safety of the protection wards the boys had put around the house, when Fido bustled through the forest on her bazillion spindly legs. She heaved to a halt like a locomotive, the back seeming to stop about an hour after the front. I weaved and bobbed to avoid the slobbery lick she lapped my way. Her four eyes blinked as her head cocked sideways, and she made that chittering noise that rumbled the ground beneath my feet.
After an awkward pat on her face, I pressed Jayden’s shorts against her nose. She probably couldn’t smell much other than her own putrid breath.
“Come on, girl. Get the scent.”
The centimole demon swung her massive head, clattering Mom’s gardening supplies to the ground, and nosed around the rotting scent of the compost bin.
“Not that.” I grabbed the fur on her neck and tried to pull her around. Not happening.
“Aurora, you alright?” Mom called from the back porch. “Putting scraps in the composter isn’t supposed to be a hazardous waste event. Need help?”
“No!” I yelled, pushing Fido aside when she nosed through the gate to see Mom. “Just gonna see if I can find Helsing. Think he went after a mouse.”
“Ok. Don’t go far.”
My bloodhound brilliance was going nowhere fast. I grabbed a whisker, thick and rough as the gym’s climbing rope, wrapped it around my hand, and yanked her head up. Ready to scream, definitely near tears, I put the fabric bunched in my hand up against her nose again.
“Focus, Fido. This is a blood contract order.” Wow, that sounded stupid, but I didn’t know what else to do. “Find Jayden!”
For several moments she didn’t move. Then I felt her hot breath on my hand as she inhaled deeply. Fido recoiled and stood tall, nose raised to the sky, quivering, no doubt catching the scent. I smiled. Matthias was going to eat glass when this worked. She squealed and reared up. I jumped back and nearly lost my footing when she dived into the ground. Debris splattered amid a mighty roar of breaking earth as Fido dove nose first into the ground and burrowed deep until she disappeared completely.
There was a rumbling underfoot that slowly faded. I stepped to the edge of the massive hole she’d created. It was starting to cave in on itself but was still big enough that it could swallow our mini-van.
Super.
I grabbed a shovel and started filling it up. Slow going. Almost useless since, to save pain in my shoulder, I could only use one hand, but better than being inside under the hawk-eye scrutiny of my family.
I’d freaked out Lucian by unconsciously petting him and Oron throughout dinner. That was after he’d accused me of readying for a sniper attack when I’d checked that all windows and doors were locked, and shut the curtains. Since I’d balked at coming home, Dad had told Mom that maybe I was indeed spending too much time with the Hex Boys. At least he was happy my puncture wasn’t infected. I wasn’t happy when he gave me something for the pain. I felt mildly groggy. Not a good idea when I needed to be top of my game.
Not that I’d set the bar very high.
I was walking a tightrope, and even on good days, my balance was sketchy. If we could just find the treasure. And this stone. Get rid of Rose. Then…what? My life would go back to normal? What a joke.
I’d been shoveling for a while when a branch snapped in the darkness. Too heavy for a woodland creature, not heavy enough for Fido.
“Rose?”
No answer.
Which was definitely worse than an answer, because I could feel a presence. Something was watching me. Something powerful. Energy rippled through the air. The silence morphed into the kind where even the subtle hum of nature ceased.
The hair on my arms raised upright as a chill of ghostly fingers crawled up my spine. My instincts screamed and ran away, leaving me empty and cold.
I gripped the shovel and took one tentative step back. Then another. Edging closer to the gate. I wasn’t sure where the protection wards surrounding the house started. I should have had the boys mark it. I could be over the line and vulnerable, but surely the gate was safe, and I was almost there.
From the left, something broke fast from the shadows.
A man wearing a hat and long coat was all I could register before I slammed the shovel into his chest. He caught it, ripped it from my hands, and swung. I dropped to the ground. Felt the whoosh of air over my head as he missed.
I rolled sideways and kicked out his ankles. He thudded onto his back with a grunt. I jumped on top of his torso which felt anything but human — lumpy, hard, sharp things biting into my legs —
grabbed the handle of the shovel that was now in his hands, and pinned it against his throat. I leaned forward, pressing hard. Ignored the scream of pain in my shoulder. The faint scent of alcohol — whisky maybe — gave me pause. I’d thought it was Rose, but the body didn’t seem right. Older, thicker.
The man bucked, almost threw me off. I reeled back one hand and slammed the heel of my palm onto his nose.
A hand latched around my wrist. Beneath me something lit up in the darkness. Small round orbs blazed and cracked with an electric yellow light, like the wires in a light bulb powering up.
Eyes. Glowing eyes.
Holy crap, he was Mandatum. Part of a hit squad? Strike team?
Didn’t matter. I needed to run.
Before I could pull away, energy shocked up my arm. Power. My power, coming to life.
Weightlessness wracked my body. I broke from gravity and my mind spiraled down the street in a vision. It seemed to be moving faster than previous ones. The world blurred to shades of black and grey. I glimpsed a tree, moonlight shining off water, just before I blasted through rock and stopped in front of…
Rose stood in a cave, a firm hand on his tall, lanky prisoner standing near the glittering pool of aqua marine water. Jayden wore the super shackles that squelched hunters’ powers. The ones which had been so ineffective on Rose earlier.
Rose was rolling his eyes. “Cease with the unnecessary heroics. Disarm the security. Help me and I will help you.”
Fido rumbled into the cave. Rose did a double take, and for the first time, a glimpse of fear flickered across his smug, handsome features. “How in Hades did that get out?”
Fido’s growl shuddered the walls and rippled the surface of the turquoise pool shimmering under the sharp, iridescent stalactites.
That’s my girl.
Jayden looked equally worried. “It’s volatile.”
“Then you better disarm the system before it gets hungry,” Rose said with urgency.
“And alert the team of my whereabouts?” Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “I will not collude with whatever treachery you have planned.”